In an interview with Reuters, an aide to Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister, Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, confirmed that not only have the Saudis considered a direct military invasion of Syria but that they have done so in collaboration and discussion with the 49 other nations making up the U.S.–led coalition “against ISIS.” The aide has confirmed the “political discussion” about thepossibility of a ground troop deployment to Syria that was explored during a coalition ministerial meeting that took place in Brussels last month.

Asseri himself confirmed that the discussions took place. “It was discussed two weeks ago in Brussels,” he said, although he clarified that the discussions were only on the “political” level as opposed to a detailed “military mission.”

The general made a point to state that, if the decision to invade is made, Saudi Arabia would be ready and willing to contribute troops to the mission. He also admitted publicly that Saudi Arabia has been working on military plans for the potential invasion of Syria.

“Once this is organized, and decided how many troops and how they will go and where they will go, we will participate in that,” he said. “We need to discuss at the military level very extensively with the military experts to make sure that we have a plan.”

The United States has also confirmed the Saudi intentions with U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby even stating that the United States would welcome the cooperation of the KSA.

“But there’s a lot that needs to be discussed in terms of what they would do, what their makeup would be, how they would need to be supported by the coalition going forward. So there’s a lot of homework that needs to be done,” Kirby said.

For its part, the Syrian government, via an official source at the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry told SANA news agency that Saudi Arabia is hurting any chances of peace in Syria and that it is playing a “destructive role” in the process as well as “threatening the security and stability” of the world.

The source further argued that the UN Secretary-General should immediately form a committee to examine the possibility of “crimes that were committed and are still being committed by the Saudi regime and in the Arab world.”

In addition, a U.S. official has stated that its coalition will continue to provide arms and equipment to “moderate terrorists” in Syria despite the peace agreement.

“We will continue to provide equipment packages to vetted leaders and their units so that over time they can make a concerted push into territory still controlled,” the official said. “As a matter of policy, we won’t comment or speculate on potential future operations.”